Monday, May 23, 2005

The two campaigns of Sinn Fein

As spotted on Slugger and on Everything Ulster, West Belfast is in the process of becoming a euro-friendly area. This development highlights the more pragmatic stance of northern SF on the EU. In his 1999 manifesto, SF was fiercely against the EMU: ‘Sinn Féin has been highly critical of European Union economic policies and in recent years have voiced our opposition to Economic Monetory Union and the EURO. We believe EMU will limit the right of Irish people to control their own economy. If implemented EMU will represent a backwards step with potential costs for Ireland, north and south. EMU is contrary to our socialist, republican objectives of national sovereignty in political, economic and social terms’. As it was analyzed in a conference at QUB last week on the Treaty, there is at least a perception that the No SF stance is driven by the South rather than by the North. The goal of SF Southern campaign against the Treaty would be to raise the profile of the party while the Northern one is expected to be pretty low-key.